Every business wants more traffic, more leads, and more sales. The whole point of launching our businesses online is to be visible to a bigger audience. We all want to reach those people who might otherwise not know we exist. Thanks to technology. 

When it comes to launching a business online, however, it takes more than just being there. If the only way people can find you online is by you sharing a link directly to them, then you’re not really online. The key is to be found organically online.

Here are 13 reasons why taking your business online might not be online;

1. You’re not recognized by search engines 

If your website is not indexed by search engines like Google and Bing, then you’re on the wrong side of the web. People are always searching for a service related to yours but they can’t find you on search results. While gaining visibility and ranking on search engines takes time, you can improve it by having a dedicated ongoing SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategy.

2. Other media don’t know you exist 

Have you ever been featured by media like top bloggers and influencers? If no, then you have a long way to go.  Your credibility online depends on how many other websites are linking to you (backlinks). You can use paid media to have a sponsored article about you written by mainstream media.

3. You don’t know your audience 

If your business is for everyone, then it is for nobody. Without knowing your customers, you will be shooting in the dark. You’ll not know how to optimize your content for a targeted audience and you’ll end up getting followers who will not convert into buying customers. 

4. Images downloaded somewhere else

Are you using original images or downloaded from another website? If you are using images downloaded from free image stocks, chances are many people are using them. Your business will gain more credibility if you use your own images. 

Also, remember to give your images names that relate to your service. This is because search engines don’t see images the way we see them. They see the code behind them. By giving your images a descriptive name, you help search engines determine what your website is all about. 

5. Website content is poor 

Without content, you are lost online. Focus on good quality content and you will be rewarded. Create content that is not only about your services and products but also content that builds trust and establishes you as an authority in that industry.  If you copied content from somewhere else and pasted it on your website, then you’re only putting yourself behind. 

6. No conversion goals

Today’s websites are not like static brochures stuffed with About, Mission, and Vision statements. Today’s websites are meant to convert people with clear calls to action. You can achieve conversion goals such as getting new subscribers to your newsletter and having people perform actions like filling out a form or buying directly from your website. Without these efforts, you are just as good as being offline.

7. No one is talking about you online 

Being online means joining conversations about your industry and empowering your audience to do the marketing for you. This is called earned media and it comprises things like comments, shares, mentions, and blog articles from other people talking about your services. It is important because it builds trust and credibility. It can’t be only you talking about you. Encourage your customers to leave online reviews and comments about your service

8. Abandoned social media accounts 

An abandoned company social channel sends a negative message to your audience. It implies you are either no longer in business or you don’t pay your employees well. Because if you did, they would keep your online presence active.

9. Your website or app takes an eternity to load

How long did it take for you to open this article? Hope it didn’t take too long, otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading it right now. People’s attention is short. They have so many interesting things on their gadgets. They are impatient to wait for another second for your site to load unless it’s a job application. Make sure your website doesn’t contain unnecessary things that make it heavy.

10. You’re not leveraging local SEO

If your business is getting more local customers who speak Swahili and you are using only English, then you’re missing out on potential customers. Those people are searching for a service like yours but they cannot find you because their search terms are in Swahili. You can attract local customers by creating a separate page on your website written in Kiswahili. Or you can add your business to local listing directories like Google My Business.

11. Not mobile-friendly 

If your website looks another way on desktop and completely another thing on mobile, then you are not controlling the online experience. Your mobile app or website needs to be designed with its users in mind. Your target audience uses different devices with different browsers. Make sure the experience is the same and perfect on everyone’s favorite screen. 

12. You’re not using Paid ads

Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t like organic results. If you didn’t know, now you know. As people’s feeds got crowded, Facebook reduced to show company updates. In fact, it rarely exists these days. The only way left for company pages to survive on Facebook is to use paid ads. But the good thing is, Facebook ads work perfectly well.

13. Auto translating tools

It is easy to simplify everything by using Artificial Intelligence. But be careful to not erode authenticity and the human touch that people need. Search engines do not like content generated by the automation tool for the sake of ranking. They even consider it spam. Make sure your web copy is written for humans first.

Your business might have sold in the past years using traditional marketing strategies, but one thing is for sure, change is inevitable. The internet has changed the game. You can’t do business depending on word-of-mouth referrals in a world where people barely listen to each other but pay attention to their gadgets.

I wish you success in your business. Spread the information to all entrepreneurs out there.